Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/325047 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17989
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The effects on criminal behaviour of raising the minimum wage for those aged 25 and over in the United Kingdom are analysed, using data on police stop and search activities. A 1% increase in the minimum wage raises the fraction of people stopped by the police by 2.96%, the fraction of people caught with an incriminating item by 1.43%, and the fraction of people arrested as a consequence by 1.27%. This effect is almost entirely driven by drug searches made outside business hours, suggesting that the minimum wage raises crime principally by raising disposable income – and drug consumption – among workers.
Subjects: 
stop and search
crime
minimum wage
JEL: 
K42
J22
J31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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